Matthew Garcia with Kawasaki Robotics

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

MD&M West, industrial innovation, Kawasaki Robotics, Matthew Garcia, robotics supplier, automation partner, manufacturing solutions, AI integration, vision-guided robots, industrial automation, trade show, manufacturing challenges, partner support, tariffs impact.

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Hey, this episode of Industrial Talk is proudly brought to you by MD&M West and the incredible news and brews team. MD&M West delivered big medtech automation, packaging, plastics and design all came together under one roof, the innovation, the energy, the conversation, it was everything that makes this industry extraordinary. I was on the floor, capturing the stories, the breakthroughs and the leaders who are shaping the future. Thanks for tuning in and celebrating the people driving industrial innovation. Industrial Talk powered by MD&M West and the news and brews team.

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Welcome to the Industrial Talk podcast with Scott MacKenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting edge industry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots, and let's

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go all right, once again, this is take two because I had a technical problems here at Industrial Talk. And thank you very much for your continued support of this platform that celebrates industry professionals all around the world. You are bold, you are brave, you dare greatly, you innovate, you collaborate. You are solving today's problems each and every day. That's why we celebrate you on Industrial Talk. You are the heroes

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in this story. We are broadcasting

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cracking All right.

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Matthew morning, Scott,

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thanks for having me on Good Morning,

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Matthew, thank you for being on Industrial Talk. Really appreciate it. Are you having a good show?

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We're having a great show, actually.

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Why? Why? Absolutely great, great question, right? So, coming to

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the show, you just can't float off. We're having a great show.

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Yeah. And so basically, as a robotics supplier, we're actually one of the few that are here on site. There's a lot of robots of different manufacturers represented. However, we're here as a robot supplier, but we're having a great show because we're meeting people that are in this like minded industry, whether it's you know, we're running into some of the medical and medical device, but there's actually some some others that are outside of that platform, and so it gives us a chance to collaborate with those and like any trade show, there's a lot of tire kickers, a lot of just investigators, but we're actually getting high quality leads that are not a waste of time. And I hate to say that, because there's a lot of people that are just coming in and just getting knowledge, and that's okay, there's taking the swag, that's right, but, but we're getting we're meeting with actual professionals in the in the industry that are looking to be a serious partner and a serious automation partner.

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This is interesting. Have you been coming to

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mentioned it that way, that's sort of wild, because there's around 12 to 13,000

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people here. Yeah, that's correct.

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And if you look at the map

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on their website, the MD&M website, you realize it seems like a aircraft carrier.

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Oh, yeah, no. It's, it's, I mean, it's large when you, when you spend the time and walk up and down the show, it's, it's small enough that you can see just about everybody, but it's also large enough that you really got to kind of plan your time.

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Yes, you do? You do well, tell us real quick on who Matthew, give us a little bio, and then, and then, I got some questions about Kawasaki robotics. Yeah, you bet.

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So I started in robotics 30 years ago, right out of college. You've seen some changes. I've seen a lot of changes, amazing changes, actually, yeah, you know, anywhere from, you know, almost the origins of industrial robotics, all the way up to now, which is becoming more the humanoid and AI and a lot of vision guided robots. So that's really, you know, kind of the newest, latest. Is the greatest. But I AI is becoming kind of the new fad with everything. Oh, really,

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I know things captain obvious, right?

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Yeah, but, but from my perspective, the

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conversation around AI always has to happen, because you got to figure out, Hey, how is, how is this, this tool, this technology, is going to help us be better, whatever, more efficient, greater quality, whatever, the whatever the objectives are, all of the above. That's that's not a problem. Here's the question that I have for you. There are robotics companies out there, you know, big, small, in between whatever and there is a specific design help me understand, in that bloody market, how Kawasaki is solving problems. Differentiate the solutions that

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Kawasaki provides in the world of robotics.

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kilograms is basically a small automobile. So we have a robot that can actually pick one up. So, so how we're helping people is we fit into a number of different industries, so anywhere from food and beverage up to dispensing welding. We've, we've done a lot with some of the major car brands. You know, I don't know if I want to mention them. Yeah, no on air, but it's fine. So we have robots and several those. One of the newer electric automobiles is all Kawasaki robotics. It's pretty impressive to have that name and that

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support in the industry, because I have to be honest with you, and given that pedigree that you've just sort of laid out for Kawasaki. Impressive, don't get me wrong, impressive, I hear, I hear

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more from other companies,

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as far as, yeah, just just attention wise.

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So Kawasaki, we are, we are not the big dog in the room, if you will. So there we have a competitor, or another competitor that has the larger market share, but we like to focus on specific partners. We only sell to our partners. We don't sell direct. So we work through partners, because we want our partners to be successful, and we support them with a smaller network so that they get personalized attention and they always have the right support that they need, so that they're not left hanging. They're not going to fail. They're set up for success when they have Kawasaki behind them.

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How does Kawasaki, and just like anything else here in the world of manufacturing, how does Kawasaki keep up with the velocity of all the changes and all the innovations and all of the stuff and manufacture and deliver products that are meeting the the ever changing and rapidly evolving, you know, markets, manufacturing markets. How do you do that? I don't know how you do it, because I look at these robots. It does this, it does that, and it looks like this. It looks like that. But how do you how do you keep up with that? I don't

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know how you do that. Well, you certainly, you know, with with our partners, we're listening to what they say, because they have their finger on the pulse of, you know, customers and end users, we call them, that are actually using the robotics in their manufacturing. So our partners work directly with them, and we work with our partners. Plus, you know, looking at periodicals, understanding the changes of manufacturing and, I mean, obviously the dynamics of politics today makes a big difference as well. So keeping up with all of that, we're looking at what. Ways to innovate and have the right solution for what they're using. We have a full engineering team that when a solution or a proposed solution is brought to us, we work with our partners to size the correct robots, do simulations to prove them out, so that they have the right answer for their customers.

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Where do you manufacture?

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So all of our robots are manufactured in Japan. They come to the United States,

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and you can't help but have the conversation round to tariffs.

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Of course, yeah. So we have that as well. Kawasaki actually has their own shipping line, so we can take advantage of that. Why wouldn't you? That's right, but you know, tariffs is going to be the that's going to be the big thing. You know, it's there's some advantages to shipping around from from Japan to our customers that are in Canada or Mexico, but unfortunately, everything coming to the states, where we receive them in our warehouse in Michigan, we're still subject to the tariffs, just like most of our competitors do. So it's kind of a, it's an even playing field. In that sense,

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where do you see it going? What you're on the floor. You're having conversations with people walking around. What are they what are they asking for? Can you deliver? Fill in the blanks? What's that look like?

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Yeah, absolutely. And it ranges from so many different variables. For instance, we're we're displaying a robot that's doing random pick for a kitting operation. So we're using 3d vision to locate specific parts and then build a kit from that. The Trade Show is always a good resource to just show examples, but it gets people thinking so that we can have that exact conversation of what they're looking for. So an example would we be we had a conversation with somebody who's looking for a sorting setup for dental implants. I talked to another customer that has a gel for pharmaceutical use. I talked to another company that actually is looking to do a welding operation, which you wouldn't think at this particular show, but it does happen. And we cover all of that.

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Yeah, I have you that automated welding that's pretty doggone cool,

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and it's been doing, it's been doing in the automotive industry for years.

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Yeah, guys, it's like, right in your wheelhouse. It's old hat. Yeah, it's, that's a

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sweet thing. All right, if I was a guy that I needed to get a hold of you, which, fortunately for me, I have your business card, how would somebody get a hold of you, Matthew and say I want to know more about Kawasaki robotics?

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you out on LinkedIn? I

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am Yes sir. Under Matthew Garcia,

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that's your you got that?

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Yeah. All right, Matthew, you were fantastic. Thank you very much for being so flexible and willing to get on the podcast so quickly. I know that you have a flight heading on out today, but I really appreciate that, and thank you very much for your conversation.

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We're going to have all the contact

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information for Matthew out on Industrial Talk. Fear not reach out to him. It is the world that you we are

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living in. You need Sherpas

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to help you along, especially in the world of automation and robotics, he's the one that you want to connect with. Once again, we're broadcasting from MD&M West. We are with the news and brews crew. We are telling the story of all the manufacturers that are here. And if you're not here, you're not there's going to be one next year.

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So you know, stay tuned. We will be

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right back. You're listening to the Industrial Talk Podcast Network.

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All right. That was Matthew Garcia Kawasaki robotics. So I was at MD&M. As you can tell, was that MD&M, and we're listening to the podcast, and of course, I was at MD&M West, and it was full of just incredible solutions, also, like Kawasaki robotics, providing real value in the world of manufacturing. It is changing so fast, it is as if you've been following Industrial Talk and all the conversations, one thing you cannot deny is that industry, manufacturing, all aspects,

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are just absolutely changing,

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changing For the good, becoming

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more, you know, operationally efficient, extracting greater value, meeting the demands of the market, all of it, and it's all at MD and Ms. If you weren't there this year, you need to be there next year, just because that's well, you need to be there next year and and because you will not be disappointed, because you get to meet people like Matthew, I'm. Can add a stat card right there. If you're out on the video and you're looking at me, I'm pointing, pointing. That is Lincoln stat card. All right, there. All right. Once again, we're building a platform. Industrial Talk is here for you. You need to tell your story, just like all of the individuals that have been on the podcast, you need to tell the story. We need to inspire that next generation of industrial leaders, and that is through storytelling, and that is creating that human element that is a part of your company. And you you have to do it, go out to Industrial Talk, click, connect, talk to me, and we'll have a conversation. And I think it'll be great and and you'll help inspire the next generation, which we need that. All right. All right. Be bold. Be brave. Dare greatly. Hang out with Matthew and you will be changing the world. We're gonna have another great conversation coming from MD and M West shortly. So stay tuned.